Week 1: At Los Angeles Chargers

Sunday, September 11, 1:25 p.m., CBS

Current line: Chargers -3.5

This amounts to an immediate rematch of what many consider the best regular season game of last year, when the Raiders upset the Chargers 35-32 in overtime of Week 18 to reach the postseason.

Week 2: Vs. Arizona Cardinals

Sunday, September 18, 1:25 p.m., CBS

Current line: Raiders -2

It’s the first time the franchises have met since Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (who signed a five-year $230 million contract this offseason) controversially beat out Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (who’s set to become a free agent after this season) for the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Week 3: At Tennessee Titans

Sunday, September 25, 10 a.m., Fox

Current line: Titans -2.5

The Titans posted the best regular-season record in the AFC last season despite dealing a slew of injuries, including to franchise running back Derrick Henry.

Week 4: Vs. Denver Broncos

Sunday, October 2, 1:25 p.m., CBS,

Current line: Pick’em

This rivalry has suddenly turned one-sided, with the Raiders having won five of the last six meetings and their only loss coming by a single point.

Week 5: At Kansas City Chiefs

Monday, October 10, 5:15 p.m., ESPN

Current line: Chiefs -6

The low point of the Raiders’ season came at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium a year ago, where they were blown out 48-9 in Week 14 to drop their record to 6-7.

Week 6: BYE

Week 7: Vs. Houston Texans

Sunday, October 23, 1:05 p.m., CBS

Current line: Raiders -8.5

Local product Brevin Jordan, who starred at Bishop Gorman during its run of high school football national championships, returns to Las Vegas for a potential breakout second season as the Texans’ top tight end.

Week 8: At New Orleans Saints

Sunday, October 30, 10 a.m., CBS

Current line: Saints -2

Eight years after getting fired as the Raiders’ head coach, Dennis Allen gets a second chance with the Saints this season, succeeding Sean Payton, who stepped down after 16 years.

Week 9: At Jacksonville Jaguars

Sunday, November 6, 10 a.m., CBS

Current line: Raiders -3

It’s just the fourth time in franchise history that the Raiders have traveled to Jacksonville, where they’ve previously gone 1-2 but won the most recent meeting in 2016.

Week 10: Vs. Indianapolis Colts

Sunday, November 13, 1:05 p.m., CBS

Current line: Raiders -1

Gus Bradley, the Raiders’ defensive coordinator last season, and Yannick Ngakoue, a team captain and edge rusher for the Raiders last year, both wound up in Indianapolis after a one-year stay in Las Vegas that reportedly left them feeling slighted by the organization.

Week 11: At Denver Broncos

Sunday, November 20, 1:05 p.m., Fox

Current line: Broncos -4.5

Prized Raider defensive offseason acquisition Chandler Jones has joked that he followed prized Bronco offensive offseason acquisition Russell Wilson to the AFC West. The former Cardinals edge rusher has sacked the former Seahawks quarterback 14.5 times during their careers.

Week 12: At Seattle Seahawks

Sunday, November 27, 1:05 p.m., CBS

Current line: Raiders -3

The Raiders used to make an annual trip to play the Seahawks when the two franchises were both in the AFC West, but haven’t traveled to Seattle in eight years.

Week 13: Vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Sunday, December 4, 1:25 p.m., CBS

Current line: Pick’em

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr reunited with one “best friend” when Davante Adams came to the team in the offseason but saw another, former Raider linebacker Khalil Mack, become a divisional rival after a trade to the Chargers.

Week 14: At Los Angeles Rams

Thursday, December 8, 5:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video

Current line: Rams -6.5

The Raiders make their second trip of the season to LA’s $5 billion SoFi Stadium, where they’ve gone 1-1 since its 2020 opening … or 2-1 if you count their preseason victory over the Rams in 2021.

Week 15: Vs. New England Patriots

Sunday, December 18, 5:20 p.m., (time subject to change), NBC (subject to change)

Current line: Raiders -2.5

Expect the currently scheduled Sunday Night Football broadcast to be filled with talk of new coach Josh McDaniels, new general manager Dave Ziegler and a slew of new Raider players going up against their former team in the Patriots.

Week 16: At Pittsburgh Steelers

Saturday, December 24, 5:15 p.m., NFL Network

Current line: Raiders -1

The Raiders play on Christmas Eve for the eighth time in franchise history, which includes a 37-31 double-overtime victory over the Baltimore Colts in 1977 that’s considered the best game ever contested on the holiday. The Raiders forced overtime in that playoff game with the famous “Ghost to the Post” play, on which Hall of Fame tight end Dave Casper made an improbable 42-yard catch to set up a field goal.

Week 17: Vs. San Francisco 49ers

Sunday, January 1, 1:05 p.m., FOX

Current line: 49ers -2

This will mark the first installment in the two teams’ “Battle of the Bay” rivalry since the Raiders left Oakland for Las Vegas and should break a 7-7 deadlock in the all-time series.

Week 18: Vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Saturday, January 7 or Sunday, January 8, time TBD, TV TBD

Current line: Chiefs -2.5

Kansas City has won the AFC West for six consecutive seasons, but with as tightly contested as the division looks this year, the race could easily come down to the final week.

Is the AFC West’s hype overblown? Probably not

Ten NFL teams are currently listed at 20-to-1 or less to win the Super Bowl at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. That includes all four franchises in the AFC West.

Betting odds agree with the widespread assessment that the Kansas City Chiefs (10-to-1 to win the Super Bowl), Los Angeles Chargers (10-to-1), Denver Broncos (20-to-1) and Las Vegas Raiders (20-to-1) have formed one of the best collections of teams in a single division ever.

Only one other time since the NFL realigned to its current four-team divisional format in 2003 has an entire group of teams been priced that short to win the Super Bowl, according to future odds database sportsoddshistory.com. That was the 2003 AFC East, though the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots were the only of the four teams that ultimately made the playoffs.

It would be shocking if the AFC West didn’t produce at least two playoff representatives this year. The Raiders are currently the only team not favored to reach the postseason, with the SuperBook paying +135 (i.e. risking $100 to win $135) on them to make the playoffs and -155 (i.e. risking $155 to win $100) on them to miss. That implies about a 41% chance, after adjusting for the house’s hold percentage.

After the NFL added a third wild card in each conference two years ago, it’s now possible for all four teams to make the playoffs. Four divisional rivals haven’t all reached the playoffs since 1997—when it happened in the now-extinct NFC Central—but there’s a strong case to be made for every team in the NFC West.

The Chiefs haven’t missed the playoffs since 2014 and have likely the best player in the league in former regular-season and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.

The Raiders made the postseason last year and got better this offseason with the major additions of wide receiver Davante Adams and edge rusher Chandler Jones.

The Chargers only missed the playoffs because of an overtime loss to the Raiders in the final game of the regular season, and spent free agency heavily upgrading their defense to go with one of the NFL’s best offenses.

And the Broncos traded for former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson to address the lone perceived weak spot on their roster.

By sportsbooks’ over/under win totals, all four teams are expected to post a winning record this season. It’s difficult to see any of them falling too short, considering the level of play they all have at quarterback between Mahomes, Wilson, Los Angeles’ Justin Herbert and Las Vegas’ Derek Carr.

The AFC West is the first division in NFL history with four starting quarterbacks who hold a career passer rating of at least 90, according to ESPN. It’s a bona fide gauntlet, and navigating will be the biggest challenge standing in the way of another successful Raiders season.

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